Utility companies perform a critically important task of providing needed commodities such as electrical power, gas, water, and others to businesses and households. Such commodities not only make possible desired comfort but provide a truly fundamental cornerstone of modern living. In turn, processes have evolved in response to demand/need for ever increasing efficient reading and interaction with meters installed at such locations, to facilitate requisite and appropriate billing for the services of providing such commodities. Such efforts have more recently evolved from expensive, time-consuming personnel-intensive efforts, requiring on-site inspection and/or handling of meter issues and related concerns, to relatively more remotely controlled events and servicing.
The need for such “remote” activities, whether meter reading or adjunct meter and/or commodities management, have grown both in scope and type. In other words, not only is it desired to remotely detect meter readings and conduct activities adjunct thereto, but also to detect and manage equipment malfunctions, whether occurring naturally (such as storm related), or occurring intentionally (such as in meter tampering or commodities theft). It is also highly desirable to provide systems and controls which can prevent problems before they happen and/or provide relatively early detection and effective management.
In many instances, the prospect of equipment malfunction (whether through tampering, accidents, or longevity/maintenance failures) can raise serious safety issues inherent to the commodities being delivered/managed on-site. For example, emergencies may arise due to gas leakages, or fires, whether originated from gas, electrical, or other sources. In fact, a number of potential safety problems are well known in the industry. Accordingly, management and control of metering systems and related delivering a variety of commodities remains an important area of interest from a safety perspective, particularly as industry and societal needs drive requirements for ever-increasing remotely-based activities/management.
Various patents and patent applications provide disclosures directed to gas or fluid metering or distribution systems that may include aspects relating to shut off valve control or management. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,088,239 to Basinger et al. discloses an apparatus for routine monitoring and automatic reporting of electrical power and gas utility usage that also provides means for detecting and reporting to the relevant utility companies the development of local hazards on premises at which one or more utility usage meters are installed. The system includes a remote computer capable of turning on or off the supply of gas at the meter, perhaps as a result of the utility user not having made timely payments for the usage of gas. The meter has the capability to send a return or confirmation signal to the remote computer to confirm that the supply of gas has been shut off.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,751 to Sanders discloses a building protection system, involving the transmission of signals to LED's to indicate whether the shutoff valve is in the open or closed position. U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,903 to Reyman discloses an automatically actuated regulation system for a natural gas pipeline, which involves reporting the position of a shutoff valve, whether open or closed, to the utility company through a signal. The utility company may communicate remotely through a modem to actuate such shutoff valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,931 to Tanabe et al. discloses a gas safety control system for supplying a gas that is forwarded from a gas supply source through an inspection meter to one or more gas appliances, involving the output of cutoff information indicating that the supply of gas is cut off by a cut off valve.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0278269 to McGill discloses a safety valve that is positioned in supply plumbing that supplies a fluid medium such as natural gas to a point of use structure such as a home. A mechanical actuator is provided remote from the safety valve but mechanically connected to the safety valve. The mechanical actuator can be actuated by seismic disturbance, manually, or by activation by remote sensor or home security system. The actuator provides a status viewer for viewing the status of the valve (either ON or OFF). The system does not transmit the status indicator to a remote location.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,387 to McGill is directed to an emergency gas and electricity cutoff apparatus and control system, including a gas meter having a gas flow shut off valve. The system includes a controller remote from the gas flow shut off valve that is capable of sending a gas flow shut off signal to the shutoff valve. A valve shut-off signal may be sent from a controller to the valve for activation, through use of a wire or by RF.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,008 to Adams et al. discloses an intelligent pressure regulator for maintaining a fluid in a process at a predetermined pressure that includes an electronic controller which enhances regulator performance and provides self-diagnostics and communications capabilities. The regulator can be adapted to receive through the communications circuit an electrical signal representing a desired pressure of the process fluid and to store a digital representation of that electrical signal in the memory. U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,671 to Vanderah et al. discloses a pressure regulator with wireless communications capabilities. The regulator includes various methods of conserving the amount of power consumed by the pressure regulator system.
The disclosures of all such patent related publications referenced herein are fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
While various implementations of gas supply control apparatus and methodologies have been developed, and while various combinations of remote operating systems and devices have been developed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereafter presented in accordance with the subject technology.